Easter and Aaron's Family

We do not believe in the Easter Bunny :) However, bunny rabbits are one of Esther's new favorite animals (along with turtles...) and she enjoyed this Esther-size version and making the "sniff" sound!

The church held their traditional Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Esther really didn't understand what she was supposed to do, but she had fun! Although once she figured out what was in those shiney wrappers, we had to confinscate her collection :)

She loves to run around outside and has recently taken to trying to sneak out the door when Aaron comes home from work.

We took a picnic lunch to the park and then walked around and saw the ducks again. We were also entertained by a squirrel during our meal :)

We met up with Aaron's parents at the mall (which was just reopened after being flooded a couple years ago) and looked around. There were so many people there and stores - I felt like a country tourist! Here, Aaron's mom is showing Esther the fish in an aquarium (part of a restraunt).

Cracker Barrel rocking chairs -

I've been trying to get a good family picture - Aaron's mom took several for us, but getting two children to cooperate isn't working out...This is probably one of the best of Esther.

Another try -

I had the same problem getting a nice picture of the girls in their Easter dresses. (A lady from church gave them matching ones at Anna's shower.) They looked a lot cuter in person :)

Minus the headband! Esther is liking her baby sister more all the time.

Easter morning, the adult chior did a "cantata" and did a great job.

Some of Aaron's family came down for the service, then we went to eat at the state park. Esther was scared when we tried to take a picture with this human bunny!

There's a great view of the lake from this catwalk - but I realized later that it wasn't in any of the pictures I took...

Trying again -

Esther helped us pick up sticks in the backyard. Our potatos, lettuce, radishes, and onions are doing well, but the other garden things haven't gotten established yet - I think because it's dry here.

We went back to the state park another time. After living in town for six months, I appreciate the peace and quietness!

Esther enjoyed the swing, but she wasn't sure about the slide.

She enjoyed the stream though and put her hand in the water.

Anna has such a big smile - but I didn't manage to capture it on camera either!

She's getting nice and fat!

We went with some of Aaron's family to an artsy sort of restraunt for his grandmother's 81st birthday.

Us with Grandma -

Grandkids

In case you get tired of seeing pictures of baby girls...the fact is, this blog is primarily for "Grandpa and Grandma" (s) - so the rest of you will just have to suffer...

Someone gave Anna this towel, but for now, Esther has claimed it - we call her "The Frog Princess" and she thinks that's pretty special :)

Anna in a pretty little sundress -

My Mom got these matching dresses for the girls, and once again, I tried to get a good picture of the two of them - I thought these turned out a little better than the last try!

Before church on Sunday night....

Anna eats pretty well, so if she keeps it up, in a few years they may be able to pass for twins:) Or someday Anna may be the taller of the two, like in our family!

Amos and Rebekah were here for a day - the kids outnumbered the adults - we had a fun time watching all the little people.

Cousin Daniel wanted to hold baby Anna - he did pretty well :)

The new "K. cousins" - all of my parent's grandkids, and minus two of the great-grandkids

I forgot to rotate this one...Anna is pretty good at smiling, but I haven't got a picture of it yet - she really doesn't look this moody most of the time!

It was nice and cool this morning, so we took the girls out while we worked in the garden a little.

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

"Now is Christ risen from the dead."

One Month

It's only been one month since Anna was born, but it seems like she's always been part of our family. She's wearing a newborn outfit in this picture that she's already outgrown!

Another picture of Anna - I think I took these when she was about a week old.

Just when I was getting good at doing things with one arm! I think the girls have it figured out how to keep me busy going from one back to the other :)

Sunday night is not the greatest time for us to take a family picture, as we're all tired, but this is us! Now we look like a real family and not newlyweds :)

I didn't mean to put this picture and the next on here, but since they are, I'll tell about them. Aaron had to be gone for a week, and so some of my family gracaiously came down to help out - it was so much fun to have them here, at least for me - they did all the work of running the house! We had a nice visit with some of the G. family and we also did some shopping in the area. This leather chess set was at a store featuring all kinds of things made by local "artists".

- as was this wooden bowl.

Daddy and his two girls! He's so good with them and He can get Anna to smile for him :)

I know this looks uncomfortable, but Anna's favorite position is her head back. When I try to hold her to my shoulder, she always trys to throw her head back and look around.

I've tried a couple times to get a good picture of the girls together, but it hasn't worked very well yet - when I do, I'll post it :)

Aaron always told me that spring in TN is beautiful and he's right! The dogwood trees are all in bloom these days and the other trees are getting leaves and it's been in the 70s and some 80s. Aaron has already planted about half the garden! I'll post pictures of that later....

The church people had a nice shower for Anna after church on Sunday night. She got a lot of cute outfits, but it's a good thing because it seems like I have to change her a couple times every day for one reason or another :) The people from church also brought us meals that first week and have been very good to us.

Someone gave Esther this little "lawnmower" their grandkids had outgrown. If you push the button it drives! She really enjoys it, but still needs Dad's help to keep it going.

Anna is just starting to get her days and nights right. She doesn't sleep for more than 4 hours at a time, but I don't mind her waking up during the night for a few minutes - when it was a few hours, I needed a nap during the day!

Anna in her "I Love Daddy" sleeper handed down from Esther. She really likes to be held!

I took this picture just today - One month old! The girls are starting to fuss though, so I better hurry and say good bye!

Esther is Still the Baby!

I know everyone else is waiting for the new baby to arrive - so are we - but in the mean time, I'm getting some things done I wouldn't have otherwise - and one of them is posting these pictures of Esther :) There's a lake here in town with a walking trail around it and we've gone a couple times recently to walk - you can't see them well on this picture, but there's ducks in the lake and Esther was pretty excited to see them, which made it more fun for us as well!

"Duck" is one word in her growing vocabulary, along with baby, Daddy, dog, milk, ball, teeth, and "nana".

Esther was pretty tired and cranky when we went to this Christian bookstore, but thankfully they had little chairs and a kids movie playing - she doesn't see a lot of movies, so it kept her entertained quite well while we did our shopping close by :)

Another day we took a picnic lunch to a park in Nashville - they had this old train engine on display - it was huge!

They also have a life-size replica of the Parthenon in Greece - sorry this picture is dark, but it gives the feel of how big it was!

Yes, I know I'm huge! You may pray with us that the baby will come soon!

This is the front of the building, they also had a museum inside, but since we're not really into Greek mythology, we skipped that part...It was pretty impressive to see though!
They had a pond at that park with ducks too -
Grandpa O. gave Esther a "piggy bank" for Christmas, and Aaron gave her some change we had laying around and taught her to put it in the slot. She's had lots of fun with that project! We try to keep an eye on her though so she doesn't put the money in her mouth....
I was trying to get a good picture of her in her new dress from Auntie Rebekah, but she wouldn't stay still long enough...
Playing peek-a-boo, one of her favorite games :)

So Esther's doing well, I actually feel pretty good too and since I tried to get most of the baby things ready like three weeks ago, I've been doing other little things, such as trying some new recipes - the pita bread and overnight French toast turned out well, the squash souffle did not - and reading some books - such as Loving the Little Years, and The Power of Motherhood - both good and encouraging and ones I'll probably reread every couple years. Even if I did end up with a whole list of things I need to improve on after reading them! Aaron's been keeping busy with church work - he did a funeral, and a couple new people have joined the church - and is doing a great job.

Anyway, hopefully next time I post, Esther will be the "big" girl!